Reviews

The always lovely Tierney Bricker from E!Online reviewed The Secret Circle and it’s one of the best we’ve read thus far. Check out the full article here and follow her on Twitter.

Put the kiddies to bed and turn up those lights, y’all!

That’s our advice for watching the first five minutes of the CW’s new bewitching (hey, see what we did there?!) series, The Secret Circle, which has the most gripping opening scene of any new series for fall.

So what’s the secret? Sixteen years ago, Cassie’s and the rest of the coven’s parents were part of their own circle, but something went terribly wrong and people died. As a result, witchcraft was abolished, which means awesome things for viewers because a) it kind of reminds us of Footloose and b) it makes the show’s magic dangerous and deadly. You didn’t think it would just be floating raindrops, did you?

My guess is that The Vampire Diaries fans are going to be on board with this one. The pilot was a little campy at parts, but it does offer a similar kind of glamorous danger to some of the other supernatural-themed TV dramas out there.

What I really appreciated though is the significant role the adult characters play in The Secret Circle, as it is clear that they will not be pushed to the sidelines. This includes Natasha Henstridge’s character, Dawn, and a suitably creepy Gale Harold, who gets to show off the nastier and more brutal side of witchcraft in an early scene – While Williamson and his collaborators have said Secret Circle won’t get quite as morbid and gory as The Vampire Diaries can get, they still don’t seem to be afraid to at least get somewhat dark, based on the pilot.

Wetpaint.com had the opportunity to view The Secret Circle pilot and they list their top 5 reasons why you should watch. That’s IF you had any doubts! Read the full list here.

Your fierce new girl crush, Phoebe Tonkin. The Australian stunner makes her American TV debut as mean girl Faye Chamberlain (a soap opera vixen name if we’ve ever heard one). Phoebe owns every scene she’s in, and you won’t be able to take your eyes off her.

It promises to be crazy-exciting. The Secret Circle starts with a bang — literally. Before the creepy opening credits roll, 16-year-old Cassie sees her picture-perfect life go up in flames when her mother dies in a tragic fire, which may or may not have been an accident. Cassie is sent to live with her grandmother in eternally gloomy Chance Harbor, Washington. As Cassie settles into her new life, she gets entangled with a group of students who happen to be witches. Turns out Cassie, who’s a witch and didn’t even know it, completes their Secret Circle. But there are no Sabrina shenanigans here. Cassie and her friends’ powers may be darker than they seem.

Really liked the pilot, but it’s more of a set-up for the rest of the series. Gale, Phoebe, Britt and Dekker are great. Also, I really liked Shelley. Diana was never a favorite of mine from the books, but I liked her in the pilot. a lot

Cool FX aside (and let’s face it, the scene in the woods when the dew drops lift in mid-air is amazing), you know this one will keep you on the edge of your seat week after week with twists and turns and conflicts between characters. There will be typical teen drama amplified ten-fold by the fact that mystical powers are in the mix, but then of course there are those that want to stop them from realizing what they are capable of, and those who want to exploit what they are capable of. It’s a giant metaphor for the potential every child has, but it’s set on a surreal backdrop that lets you just escape into another world.

Watched Ringer and Secret Circle last night. Sign me up for weekly viewings of each this fall. The girl playing Faye in Secret Circle was giving me serious early Cordelia Chase vibes. The bad girl you love to hate and hate to love.

In today’s screening, Kevin Williamson’s pilot THE SECRET CIRCLE lived up to the hype and now firmly holds the frontrunner position with medical drama HART OF DIXIE. HEAVENLY and procedural COOPER & STONE are still behind, followed by zombie drama AWAKENING and DANNI LOWINSKI, with the latter not as bad as many think but probably not good enough to make the cut to series.

Pilot season is in full effect and among those that are receiving positive reviews is The Secret Circle. Check out some noteworthy ones below:

Deadline
At the CW, the rise HART OF DIXIE continued with a great screening as the small town medical drama starring Rachel Bilson looks like a sure thing for the fall schedule along with Kevin Williamson’s The Secret Circle, which is yet to be screened.

TV Overmind
One of the most talked about pilots of the season, The Secret Circle is not only based on another popular teen series by L.J. Smith, who authored The Vampire Diaries novels, but the pilot has Kevin Williamson (one half of team who successfully brought The Vampire Diaries to our screens) on board to executive produce as well.

The latest print edition of The Hollywood Reporter takes a look at the chances for several pilots, and perhaps unsurprisingly, The Secret Circle produced by Kevin Williamson tops their list. “Close as they come to a lock, with The Vampire Diaries’ Kevin Williamson adding pull,” the trade says.